I guess I'll post here, since I technically haven't ran since last Sunday...

I DID turn out for the Seattle Marathon's Half Marathon. I knew it would be slow, I knew I would be walking aid stations and taking it easy. I knew I'd stop when I had to go to the bathroom, I knew I'd be passed by a lot of people I should be passing in a normal year. But, it was the principle... it was a "stretch" - not impossible, but it wasn't like I was excessively well-trained either. Probably minimally trained. No super "long" runs but reliable every-other-day running with some longer days.

Anyway, I finished, hooray. It felt like miles 10-23 of a full marathon. (Maybe more like miles 1-3, miles 6-11, miles 20-23) The first couple of miles were fast and felt really good. Once I get back to full training volume, I'll be much better off. The next few dwindled. The last few were hard - I haven't been training hills to try to "take it easy" (relative) and the Seattle Marathon has hills.

The Half Marathon is pretty much all the "pretty" or scenic parts of the marathon (except maybe Seward/Gennessee Park, but you have to do that twice and it's not as fun the second time ). I still think they should ditch the express lanes, even if I "get" why they do it, but the half marathon at least didn't include the super-boring (and super-windy, super-cold, whatever) section across the lake. It is by no means flat, more like a quad burner, but it's not the Pike's Peak (or what I imagine that to be)

It was SUPER WARM... 50+ degrees. Way warmer than I expected - 2006 it was snowing, last year more normal (overcast, sunbreaks, 40s). I wore a sports bra and my cw-x insulated bra top (full length) under a long-sleeved shirt and it was too warm for the shirt, I had to take it off. I finished in 2:30 or so, I could have shaved off 7 minutes (I am not joking) if I didn't stop to go to the bathroom. I was running with the 2:00 pacer for the first few miles, then right at the bathroom stop the 2:15 pacer caught up. The half marathon starts at 7:30, 30 minutes before the full marathon start. I assume it's for staggering the finish to be a pretty constant stream of people.

Anyway, pictures... I look like I'm about to punch someone out http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_e...32678&BIB=8787

To keep from injuring myself, I will not be training for a marathon this year - it'd have to be about March before I could run that distance. I would love to do the Disney World Half Marathon but it's very much sold out. I'll probably fall into base Ironman training after my PT - which is about 50% of normal running training volume right now. PT is going really well, though.

I am shopping for new shoes. Trying to avoid injury in as many ways as humanly possible. I have been wearing mens Asics (the GT-21xx series) because I need a 2E width and there's not a lot of womanly shoes that fit the bill that are easy to find. I went to a shoe store last weekend and tried to discuss my fit with the dude, who was skeptical about my need for a 2E. He had me try on regular width shoes in "normal" size, and I said they felt narrow. Stood up to show him how well my foot deformed the shoe, he said... "oh... yeah. You'll need the 2E. We don't stock those." We talked about shoe volume and why wearing mens shoes was bad (which I already knew, but was lacking in many other choices). At this point, I'm debating ordering online, or finding another store that can order them here and would be willing to let me test them. I tried on a few styles at New Balance's store and they just didn't feel right. His recommendation (he did not do any weight/motion analysis, just looked at the shape of my foot) was the Brooks Addiction.

Longer than I intended... hope everyone's week is going well.